Rivers in central Vietnam province lose 80% of water volume to drought

About 2,500 out of nearly 20,000 hectares of crops in the central province of Khanh Hoa have been affected by the current drought, which is the most severe in ten years and is expected to last until September.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai led a governmental delegation to visit the province yesterday to work out measures to limit the consequences of the drought.

The water volume of rivers in Khanh Hoa has fallen by 80 percent because of the low rainfall in 2014, leading to a widespread drought in the area, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

Some reservoirs contain at most 25-50 percent of their capacity, while others display a sheer dry bottom.

The total cultivation area in Khanh Hoa for the current winter-spring season reaches 19,700 hectares, but 2,500 hectares of which, including 2,000 hectares of rice plantations, have incurred drought.

The worst affected localities are Cam Ranh, Cam Lam, and Ninh Hoa.

The shortage of water for the production of the following summer-autumn season is even more threatening.

In Cam Ranh City in the south of Khanh Hoa, as many as 340 hectares of winter-spring rice crops have been damaged by drought.

Pham Dinh Huan, head of the representative office of the irrigation company Nam Khanh Hoa, admitted the crops are threatened because the Suoi Hanh reservoir and other lakes are running out of water.

Since late last month, the company has installed three pumps to provide water for the local irrigation network, Huan added.

In Cam Lam District, nearly 200 pig farms have been badly hit during the past few months.

Le Van Hai, a farmer in Cam Lam’s Cam Thanh Bac Commune, who keeps 200 pigs aged three months, said he is about to drill a well to find more water for production.

The cost to drill a well at a depth of 70-80 meters is nearly VND50 million (US$2,300).

A pig needs an average of nine liters of drinking water and another big volume for washing, Hai revealed.

Khanh Hoa authorities suggested that the central government provide aid of VND25 billion ($1.17 million) for limiting and repairing the damage caused by drought, and grant another VND1 trillion ($46.7 million) to upgrade the current irrigation networks.

Deputy PM Hai instructed local authorities to pay great attention to helping farmers cope with the serious drought.